Blue Of The Palaven Sea
by KMN-91
Summary: The color of vibrant deep blue in her eyes had been what drew him in and it was his heart that kept on clinging. Garrus/F!Shepard (M!Turian/F!Human)


**Today is November 7th (N7) and the day seemed right for this is officially my first ME fick. To be honest, Dragon Age was the thing that introduced me to Bioware and I hadn't been into Scifi before that, but after Mass Effect I became a fan to the point my friends started to get annoyed with me ^^**

**MASS EFFECT RULES!**

**Beside that I have nothing else or inspiring to say ;P**

**PS. Sorry for some incorrect spellings. I tried to take all of them off and re-checked most stuff in ME wiki, but if some stayed I apologize.**

**Disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect ;P**

**Enjoy!**

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><p><strong>WARNING! Contains heavy spoilers, alcohol, mentions of some violence and death with some really mushy stuff, so be warned ^^<strong>

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><p><span>BLUE OF THE PALAVEN SEA<span>

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><p>Sitting in their shared bed at their quarters in the Normandy; his only clothing covering his body being the loose sleeping pants as he was looking up through the window toward the ever-expanding stars he couldn't help but remember the past.<p>

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><p>The color of vibrant deep blue in her eyes had been startling to him for they reminded him of home; of the glittering Waters of the Palaven sea where he spend the childhood days.<p>

He and Shepard had met in Citadel at the doctor's office during a shootout. Not the most romantic way of meeting someone, but to two soldiers like them it was the best they could get for it was there where he had decided to join her crew; leaving C-Sec to pursue Saren around the galaxy and reclaim the good name for all Turians.

It had been unsettling to him and, at first, he had been a pit apprehensive toward the female commander, but after a time he came to admire her unwavering spirit and determination as they cruised around the galaxy; setting the rights and wrongs. He came to see that there was more than rules as he watched the compassion she showed to those around her when they needed it and how she helped without asking anything in return.

She was something he hadn't encountered before.

He allowed her to become his mentor... and after the time passed, she became his closest friend.

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><p><em>They were celebrating their victory over Saren at Chora's Den with drinks and dancing. Shepard and Garrus shared their small booth with Tali who had gone to dance with heavily intoxicated turian while the rest of the crew was partying it up. She and Garrus were watching bemusedly how Tali was dancing - more like wobbling - around the bar with the dark Turian who didn't seem to be able to keep his hands on one Place.<em>

_"She's coming along nicely." Shepard commented, taking a sip from her drink from beside Garrus. _

_"That she has." Garrus agreed, keeping an eye on the other turian and his wandering hands; keeping his own fingers near his weapon just in case._

_No one messed with his girl._

_Not when he was around._

_Shepard looked at him, raising her glass of clear vodka._

_"To your return to C-Sec." He mimicked her move and both of them downed their drinks before waving for more._

_Since their crew had taken over the entire bar, they had been a bit squeezed in the booths, but seeing that over the night many had either retired for the night or passed out there was more room for them to move but Shepard hadn't left Garrus' side and neither had he pushed her was a little tipsy; leaning most of the time on his shoulder which send his heart speeding in uncomfortable manner._

_What was that feeling inside of him when he looked those bright eyes?_

_She nuzzled his shoulder before she dozed off slightly; leaving him to be only sober one of their crew; looking after Shepard._

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><p>Looking back that might have been the turning point when their close-knit friendship became something more romantic, but it had not been given change to bloom into something more.<p>

In the Normandy, he had found his calling; His family.

When the news of her demise reached him, it wasn't a wonder he had just shut down.

At the funeral he had tried to tell himself it was just a mistake of identity; that all of it was just a horrible nightmare and he kept trying to wake from it, but with Joker's never ending tears and wails of guilt, he had to let the horrible reality sink in. Everyone from the Normandy came to the podium and spoke about the commander; some of them strong while others couldn't stop their tears from falling. His head bowed down and his hands fisted at his side he delivered his dialogue of how great commander and friend she had been for him; keeping his eyes stubbornly from looking at the photo of her smiling face that was placed over the empty coffin with many kinds of flowers surrounding it.

He couldn't bring himself to look at her eyes; knowing that there was no change to see them in person ever again.

Days went by, but he didn't see or even live them. He ate and drink like any other person, but never really tasted them. Everything was like ash in his mouth and even the strongest Turian alcohol couldn't bring him to feel. He had quit his job in C-Sec;left Citadel and kept doing what he had done with Shepard: Good deeds. Others joined with him to rid the galaxy of corruption which had led him in his situation at Omega.

Betrayed by one of his own; peering through the scope of his riffle for the enemies; being surrounded by his dead comrades while the enemy just kept coming toward and swarming around like annoying insect.

He gunned them down one by one; looking trough the scope he would watch them come and fall down from his bullets.

He knew he wouldn't survive, but he was damn sure he would take as many of them he could with him. Only warming though in his mind was that maybe after he died he could see Shepard again. Remembering her brought back his happy memories from Normandy; of their missions and nightly Card games. Back then their team always played with cards in the end of the evening supper and that brough him smile on his face, cause he still could remember the time whole team found out that Shepard was the most worst card player in galaxy which had ended up with her and Wrex wrestling around the hanger after the Krogan had decided to laugh at her glorious fail in poker. He couldn't remember the time he had laughed so hard in his life.

All in all, those had been the bestest days of his life and the memory of it was enough to bring a tired smile to his face.

He knew was looking straight to his death and that Shepard was waiting for him on the other side... and he would be damned if he didn't take as many sons of bitches with him to hell as he could.

And then he had seen her. He'd seen Shepard.

she had come back.

He was sure the fatigue or dehydration was getting to him when he saw those familiar eyes through his scope and accidentally shot at her; his bullet missing only few millimeters, before she looked toward him and started running toward him.

He believed it to be her only when she was in front of him.

He couldn't describe how good it felt to be by her side once again. Those long two years she was gone had felt like a long and eternal void to him, but now it felt like those were just moments while he looked her.

Then the missile hit him.

His memory after that was bad for the hit from the missile had been bad when he woke with hovering over him. Beside the scarring on his side, he had a severe concussion and small snips of his memory were missing, but it hadn't even slowed him down as he had left from the medbay - without listening the good doctor who kept telling him to lay down and rest - to find Shepard; to confirm what he had seen at that bridge wasn't just some illusion.

When he had found her talking with that dark Cerberus operative, there hadn't been any words to convey how relieved he had been.

She was there.

She was truly there.

They shared words and exchanged laughs before retiring to her quarters where they continued celebrating their reunion with drinks; most of his time going on looking at her while she spoke.

With her it felt like those two years were a passing dream; that his face wasn't aching from war wounds and painkillers.

For him it was like they were back on old Normandy with their old team.

When they were alone, she told him everything about Cerberus; about how they had found her remains, resurrected her and that she suspected how she might be just a mere copy, but he hadn't cared.

He was just clad she was back and the fact that she had come back had been his second change with her. Even with how obvious he could be, he saw the small hints of attraction directed toward him from her and he couldn't deny that they were mutual.

He remembered the way Kaidan had accused her and how it had brought the protectiveness he felt toward her in the surface. He couldn't believe the man had claimed to love her almost two years ago and was now turning his back on her with no second glances. This has infuriated him enough to march right up to the biotic and deliver harsh hit on his jaw; his own satisfaction growing when he felt it crack under his plated fist.

He had been ready for reprimanding from Shepard, but all she did was look at his hand and asked if his hand was okay; not giving to what had happened with Kaidan even a fleeting though.

After the fiasco with biotic, she started to show her desire for relationship with him more boldly which came as surprise to him. yes, he was aware of the mutual attraction between them, but the way she brought up during their talks how she would love to test his reach and her flexibility had outright stunned him; making him a sputtering mess as he tried to find a witty line to say and collect his pride.

He found nothing.

She just smiled at his awkwardness and left, teasingly winking at him before the doors shut behind her.

apparently the turn on their relationship didn't go unnoticed By the others for he was stopped few times by Yeoman Chambers and Joker; asking about how things were going with commander and, to his total horror, Salarian Scientist Mordin Solus had called him to his lab and started to lecture him about the safest ways to copulate with humans, shooing him away after giving him some more extensive reading about the matter that had his warm skin downright burning from mortification and from the way Shepard avoided eye contact with him confirmed that the salarian had the same conversation with her.

They didn't approach the matter for some time, however.

It was before the collector base - just after they had returned to Normandy to found it missing its crew - when they took their relationship to second level.

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><p><em>"I just want something go right. Just Once. Just-" She didn't say anything to him. Just reached to touch the scarred side of his face; looking at him with those piercing eyes of hers.<em>

_He loved her blue eyes._

_They reminded him about sea of Palaven._

_They leaned closer to each others; foreheads touching in the blue glow of her aquarium, before she closed in, giving him a soft kiss before both of them sank down to the floor; limps entangled together in shared embrace._

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><p>That was another turning point for them.<p>

After that night he had woken to see Shepard dressing herself; her eyes sharp and he immediately knew.

This was not the woman he had loved last night.

This was his commander.

They had gone to collectors base; Normandy taking a brunt of the force as the collectors fought back but with Joker and EDI's teamwork, they got pass their defences. The collectors had given their all to take them down as they pressed forward, but they just charged at them as they found and saved their lost crew members.

They knew this was a suicide mission which they probably wouldn't come back, but they would take those bastards with them.

That they had sworn.

He, Tali and Shepard, against The Illusive Man's wishes who wanted to preserve the base for its tec, taken down the human reaper that had taken so many lives. As reaper went down, the platform under them started to crumble. His footing slipped and he started to skid down toward the long fall and he would have if it was not Shepard diving after him.

That moment he had seen the glimpse of the woman she had been night before: Her eyes reflected the fear of losing him and he knew that fear was in his eyes too.

After they were far away from that base and watched it crumble, he instinct pulled her flush against his armored chest, bend her down as he had seen in romantic holovids and kissed her right on the mouth while the rest of the crew cheered and wolf whistled.

From that point onward their relationship had escalated.

They would share most of their free time together; enjoying their meals at the mess or just talk around either in her quarters or his station. On every shore leave, they would spend their time together and on those times she came to see just how possessive he could be over her. Every time a man who he saw as a potential challenger, he would bring her closer to himself and bare his teeth and growl till the other male backed down.

He was worried that she wouldn't like how he acted, but to his surprise she had just said that walking with him when he was like that, was somehow exiting. How he glared anyone who even eyed her; how he growled and hissed to other males who came too close and how he clasped her waist so possessive way with his talons.

Garrus had only puffed his chest with pride; sending deathly glares toward anyone who dared to even look at him mate.

The relationship between them grew to the point he had asked her to become his mate for life.

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><p><em>"Garrus-," He placed his long claws tenderly and carefully over her lips, not allowing her to finish.<em>

_"I know, Shepard." He sighed," these aren't the conditions I wanted to ask you, but with the Reapers looming over us like this... I'm not willing to risk it." He moved closer to her, taking hold of her hands and clasping them tightly and leaned forward; not to kiss, but to rest his forehead against hers._

_"I love you Sheparf and I'll be damned if I let you go out there without knowing I had the guts to make you my Lifemate, Shepard." His eyes held determination as he looked at her features that held astonishment," so you better say yes."_

_She smiled. It wasn't one of the normal smiles he saw when she was happy or nostalgic. No. This was watery smile; full on joy._

_"Yes." She murmured and he scooped her up, twirling her around as her hands graddled his face and showered him with kisses light as butterflies._

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><p>That was one of his fondest memories and he would guard it closely till the day he would join the spirits himself and take them with him to afterlife.<p>

He still doesn't get the significance of the rings he had gotten her in order for her to be seen wedded in human eyes, but just the sight of her briliant smile when he had given her that simple silver band was enough for him.

He didn't need to question of human customs when she was happy.

The war against Reapers had forced them to go on their separate ways. He had returned to Palaven and beside few measly messages, he had no knowledge what his mate was doing. The news of Reapers attacking earth had thrown his protective instincts on override and what he remembered he had been kept in the brig for a duration of time till he calmed down.

When she reappeared in Palaven's moon, the relief washed over him like a tidal wave and without care what others thought, he had rushed over her and touched her forehead with his; purring soundly when she caressed his scarred mandibles.

He once again followed her into battle; going with her into every corner of galaxy to gather forces to take down the Reapers and even with the looming threat, their relationship as mates kept on growing. They had started to discuss of their life after the Reapers; of what they would do. He knew she wasn't too keen to leave the soldiers life behind and neither was he, so he had told her he would follow her to the end of the universe if she so choose.

This declaration had let into her throwing herself at him and kiss him like there was no tomorrow in the middle of Citadel cafe.

On their last shore leave he had taken her with him to do something he had always wanted to do; both of them enjoying breaking the rules and shooting cans with his riffle, before he had taken her to a bar where the two of them had danced the night away; enjoying the applauses they got from the passionate show they put on dance floor.

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><p><em>"We started this. We end it." Garrus clasped her hand on his long talons, looking out of the window into space with her.<em>

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><p>When they had been separated his heart hand constricted inside his chest. He wanted to be at her side; to make sure his mate was safe but she wouldn't have none of it.<p>

She wanted him safe.

After the threat had been over, he had been first one to start looking for her; searching endlessly for his mate through the rubble day and night. He refused sleep and nourishment as he looked for her and when he found her, his heart had stopped.

She was battered, bruised beyond recognition. She was caked in blood and barely breathing when he found her weak pulse. Graddling her like she was made from the frailest glass in the universe, he had all but ran with her in his arms to the nearest medic and all but threatened the man to fix her; never leaving her side as they operated on her while holding her hand.

For the first months she spend in coma - covered head to toe in bandages as the different tubes and wires of different machines were connected to her - and he spend in the hospital at her side; every day Tali would bring him food for he refused to leave her side even a second. He would sleep on the bed beside hers so he would be there when she woke up and spend her days talking to her, asking her to open her eyes.

There was no words to describe the relief he had felt when those lovely eyes had fluttered open; looking at him before a tiny, relieved smile came to her features as their hands - with their wedding bands on their fingers - entwined together.

Silent rustling brough his mind back from the memories of their past and made him turn his head toward the sound.

He looked toward the wiggling bundle next to Shepard, happy and tender smile taking over his face. His eyes took in the pale woman on laying on their shared bed, curled under the sheets the sheets which had formed a small 'nest' to her and a small, grey bundle, that she was cradling on her arms;subconsciously pulling it even closer to herself.

He leaned forward on bed, lifting carefully one of his talons toward the bundle and he gave a tender chuckle, when a small, three-fingered hand wrapped around it.

When he and Shepard became mates, question of children had come up. Back then they had been neck deep in Reapers so they had put the matter aside, but when the threat was gone, the matter was put out on the table once again.

They had few options for a couple like them and their minds had been set on adoption for a some time - maybe taking one of the krogan babies that would be coming to the world since the genoside had ended - for neither of them had been too inclined to find someone else to 'do the deed' with for a child since the Turian and Human physiology wasn't compatible and it would have been a miracle if she had become pregnant before dying from infection.

In the end the adoption seemed to be their only option, but to their great surprise their dear salarian professor, Mordin Solus, had come up with a simple solution before his death and that solution laid inside a small glass vial for them. In that small vial laid the solution for Shepard to be able to carry a Turian baby to its full term inside her womb and that solution was what had brought them the bundle of joy he was now looking with fatherly pride.

Spirits bless that crazy Salarian. He remembered when he had talked about children to the old scientist and expressed his regret that they couldn't make one of their own before he was ushered out. He should have realized back then that the familiar gleam in salarians eyes was the gleam of challenge. Challenge that the man had decided to break.

When they found his databad message and the vial in the secure safe waiting for them, his heart had felt more lighter and the hope in his mates eyes had shines brighter than any star. She had all but thrown herself at his arms and squeezed the life out of him; crying tears of happiness while repeating the mantra of thank you's to their old friend.

He and Shepard had grieved for Mordin, Legion and Thane who had died during the long year they used to prepare their forces to challenge reapers. Mordin died for Krogans, Legion disappeared for peace between Geth and Quarian and Thane passed away in the hospital bed with hiss on and Shepard beside him after heroically saving the salarian council member from assassination.

They would be remembered and missed dearly... but life kept moving forward and he thanks to them he had his small family to take care now.

Family that was there because of those who sacrificed themselves.

He chuckled; looking down on his son's open eyes, before laying down and pulling his mate and son closer to him; purring till his son let out a small yawn and returned back to the world of dreams, leaving him to watch over the two he loved most dearly before he himself succumbed to the long needed sleep, smile gracing his features as he remembered the colors he loved the most he had seen in his son's and mate's eyes.

Deep blue eyes.

Blue of the Palaven sea.

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><p><strong>I'll be doing possible repairs and I might (I'm not promising anything) do some adding to the story on a later date, but for now this is all I'm writing ;P<strong>

**Thank you for reading and hopefully someone enjoyed what they read ^^ You're welcomed to leave a review, a comment or a request; put the story in your favorites and/or place on alert if you like it, cause those are the 'thingies' that keeps the writer's spirit and mood high ^^**


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